


Life Keeps Moving Forward

by isabelbarret



Series: Nothing Stays the Same [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Harry Potter, Aurors, Bottom Draco Malfoy, Case Fic, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Engagement, Implied Mpreg, M/M, Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter), Potioneer Draco Malfoy, Top Harry Potter, Veela Draco Malfoy, Veela Mates, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:22:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29811141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isabelbarret/pseuds/isabelbarret
Summary: Harry's life seems pretty perfect. He's engaged to Draco and has two wonderful children. Life always seems to have a way of getting complicated. A new case at work makes the Ministry seem dangerous and gets unwanted press attention. Lucius Malfoy is getting released from Azkaban a year early. Something strange is going on with Draco. On top of all of that he and Draco, have what's being called the wedding of the century, to plan.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Series: Nothing Stays the Same [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981117
Comments: 8
Kudos: 51





	Life Keeps Moving Forward

**Author's Note:**

> Hello wonderful readers!  
> Finally, it's here the second part! this took me way longer to write than I ever imagined but I am so excited to be able to share it with all of you. First off want to think my amazing beta editor Hufflepuff_Sunflower for working so hard with me on this story. For anyone new to this universe I recommend you go read Nothing Stays the Same first because otherwise, this isn't going to make a lot of sense. Thank you to all my readers who have been waiting for a second part, it means so much to be able to share this with you. Please enjoy!

Harry comes trudging down the stairs, nearly tripping over his own shoelaces. He’s running late, for some reason he just couldn’t make himself get up this morning. Teddy, Draco, and Jamie are already in the kitchen finishing up breakfast. It’s a simple breakfast scrambled eggs and toast with jam. 

“Is your backpack ready?” Harry asks Teddy as he leans down to tie his shoes. Draco wipes a bit of strawberry jam that Teddy got on his cheeks. 

“Yep!” Teddy says excitedly slipping out of the breakfast nook. 

“Go get your shoes and jacket on and I’ll meet you upstairs,” Harry instructs and Teddy goes rushing upstairs excited to head off to school. 

Harry snags a piece of toast coating it in Luna’s special strawberry jam. He’s not sure what makes it special, Luna refused to disclose her secret recipe. The jam is absolutely delicious. Harry also puts some coffee into a thermos adding the appropriate amount of sugar and cream.   
“Is that all you’re having for breakfast?” Draco asks, raising a single eyebrow. No one promotes having a balanced breakfast as much as Draco. 

“I’m going to be late to drop Teddy off,” Harry says through a mouthful of toast and jam. 

Harry leans over and presses a quick kiss to Draco’s lips. He wishes he had the time to sit down and have a nice breakfast. He always seems to be rushing to work these days, he never has enough time in the morning. Harry leans over and presses a quick kiss to Jamie’s forehead, avoiding Jamie’s jam covered cheeks. 

“Bye-bye Dada,” Jamie says, giving him a wide smile. At a year and a half old Jamie is at that age where he wants to try feeding himself. It’s a messy affair that involves him getting more food on his hands and face than in his mouth. 

Harry gives him a little wave. “Bye Jamie, bye Draco I’ll see you both later.” 

Teddy is upstairs waiting by the stairs struggling to get his jacket on. They let Teddy dress himself, which means he always ends up in colorful mixed-match outfits. Slowly he’s been able to gain more control over his Metamorphmagus shifting and uses it to match his hair and sometimes even his eyes to his outfit. Right now he had bright pink hair. 

“Ready to go?” Harry asks, taking Teddy’s hand in his. 

“Yes!” Teddy replies as they step through the floo. 

_ Knightley Academy for Young Witches and Wizards _ is the most famous primary school for wizarding children in London. It’s been around for a few hundred years, in an old stone building not too far away from Grimmauld Place. Teddy has been at  _ Knightley Academy _ for about a month now and absolutely loves it. 

Harry had been reluctant to send him to  _ Knightley Academy _ . It had been Draco’s decision to send him there, Harry didn’t know much about what young wizarding children did for school.  _ Knightley Academy _ was known for being the school that purebloods and the most wealthy wizarding families send their children to. Harry wasn’t sure if he wanted Teddy to be around those types of people. He had only changed his mind when Bill and Fleur decided to send Victoire there. At that point, there was no way to tell Teddy he couldn’t go. 

At five Teddy only goes to school half the time. He goes in the morning and then comes home in the afternoon. The other option was for Teddy to be homeschooled like the Weasley’s had. Harry wanted Teddy to have friends so  _ Knightley Academy _ had seemed like the best place for that to happen. 

Immediately once they’re in the yard of Knightley Academy Victoire comes running up to Teddy, pulling him to come play with her. Harry spots Mrs. Bui, Teddy, and Victoire’s teacher. Every time he sees her she’s wearing a new set of colorful and patterned robes. She always wears her long grey hair in two braids down her back. She reminds him of an older version of Luna. 

“Hello, Mr. Potter,” she says, coming up to him and giving him a warm smile. 

“Hi Mrs. Bui,” he replies warmly, giving her a smile in return. “Teddy doing okay in class?” 

“He’s wonderful. Don’t forget about the open house next week. Teddy is very excited to show you and Mr. Malfoy his art,” Mrs. Bui reminds. Teddy and Draco have been switching off days for the last two weeks reminding him about the open house. 

“Of course, I can’t wait,” Harry promises. “I need to be off to work, it was great getting to see you.” 

Harry calls goodbye to Teddy who runs up and gives him a quick hug before returning to playing whatever game he was in the middle of. He watches as Victoire and a black-haired boy that Harry doesn’t know the name of chasing after each other. The first few times they dropped Teddy at school he had been in tears with the idea of them leaving. He quickly adapted to school and now barely even seems to care when Harry leaves. 

He takes the elevator down to the Auror offices, guzzling his coffee from his thermos. The Ministry feels surprisingly quiet as he heads to his desk. It’s a Tuesday morning, but the atmosphere around the ministry makes it feel like it’s a Sunday night. 

Rons sitting at his desk filling out a stack of paperwork when Harry comes to his desk. “Are you ready to head up?” 

“Head up? What are you talking about?” Harry questions finishing off the last bit of his coffee. 

“Minister Marcel is holding a special press conference. Hermione told me it might be about the prisoners in Azkaban,” Ron explains standing up from his chair. “We should leave right now if we want to make it in time. She’s holding the press conference in the lobby.” 

Lillian Marcel was elected Minister five months ago. She’s a no-nonsense woman, with a strong sense of right and wrong. She had her roots in wizarding law and served on the Wizengamot for over twenty years. She’s in her late fifties and always wears her hair in a severe bun at the base of her neck. Harry had to admit he’s a bit afraid of her. 

One of the platforms she ran on was reforming the prison system. She argued that Azkaban was too expensive and they needed to come up with a new prison system. Harry agrees that with the dementors gone, valuable Auror resources are being used to guard Azkaban. He’s not sure what the right thing to do is, it’s why he would never want to write wizarding laws. 

They head back upstairs to the lobby of the Ministry. A good size crowd has come together, ministry employees from every single department as well as members from every major wizarding publication. Harry and Ron hang near the back of the room as minister Marcel climbs up onto a platform so she rises slightly above the crowd. 

She holds her wand up to her throat projecting her voice so that it echoes around the lobby. She’s wearing a set of black dress robs that seem to shimmer just slightly in the light. Towards the front of the room, Harry spots Hermione's curly brown hair. He knows she’s been working more often with Minister Marcel recently but he didn’t realize she was part of her inner circle. 

“Good Morning everyone,” Minister Marcel says silencing the crowd in front of her. “As promised during my campaign I have come up with new measures to lessen the weight that Azkaban places on all of us. Azkaban is an old institution and one that no longer suits our modernizing society. For that reason, the Ministry will slowly be releasing criminals who have been deemed by the Wizengamot to have served an appropriate sentence.” 

The room fills with noise as people begin whispering to each other. He thought she would be introducing a new prison location, one not as remote and difficult to live within as Azkaban. He never expected she would go as far as to begin releasing prisoners. Based on the reactions he can see around him he’s not sure yet if it's a popular decision. 

“Based on the individual’s crimes and their behavior while imprisoned they will not be released directly into wizarding society. The Wizengamot has come up with appropriate regulations for each wizard or witch to follow. They will be placed under house arrest, have their wand monitored, and even have their magic suppressed when deemed appropriate,” Minister Marcel explains as the voices quiet. “I will now share a list of criminals being released over the next three weeks.” 

From there she begins to read out a list of names. Some of the names Harry remembers. Shockingly enough there are death eaters on the list. Harry doesn’t even realize he was holding his breath until she calls out the name Lucius Malfoy and he lets out the breath with a gasp. He’s not surprised Lucius’s names got called, he only has a year left on his sentence anyways and recently there's been talk of having his sentence reduced because of good behavior. 

After she finishes listing the names she offers a quick goodbye before stepping down from the podium. At once members of the press swarm on her asking her questions. It seems like everyone in the room comes alive again and starts yelling over each other. Harry turns to Ron and they both silently decide to head back down the Auror department, getting in the elevator before it gets too crowded. 

“Well, what do you think?” Ron asks once the elevator doors are closed and they are suddenly engulfed by quiet. 

“I need to tell Draco, I wonder if his mother knows anything,” Harry worries. He can’t imagine how Minister Marcle could have come up with such a plan without contacting the families of everyone they plan on releasing. 

“If he doesn't know about it now he’ll know by the afternoon, it will be in all the afternoon editions of all the papers,” Ron says with a grimace. 

Harry mumbles under his breath as he beelines for his desk. He pulls out a scratch piece of parchment and writes a quick note to Draco, explaining the situation in as few words as possible. He doesn’t know how Draco’s going to react. He and his father don’t have the best relationship or at the moment any time of relationship. Harry’s not even entirely sure how Narcissa is going to react to the news if she doesn’t already know. 

Harry is ready to sit at his desk and wait anxiously for a reply when Robards comes up to his desk. He expects to be reprimanded, it’s clear that’s he’s not doing work but instead, Robards barely even sends him a glance. “Greystone, Potter, and Eichelberg come with me.” 

Ron sends Harry a surprised look but doesn’t say anything. Greystone looks equally surprised by Roabrds suddenly summoning her, but she just gives Harry a shrug when he looks at her. Eichelberg scurries up from her desk in the corner. Rebecca Eichelberg graduated from the Auror training about nine months ago. She’s whip smart but a bit on the quiet side. Harry’s still not entirely sure the Auror department is the right place for her. 

They follow Robards to one of the smaller conference rooms, settling around the table. Robards takes a seat at the head of the table. “I don’t have a lot of time so I am going to be brief. I’m sure you all heard about the attack on Tabitha Helhadottir who works in the international magical office of law.” 

They all nod at Robards words. It isn’t common for people to be attacked in the ministry, especially someone who works for the department of magical cooperation. She was lucky to have survived the attack, her skin had been viciously ripped off in places and her lungs punctured. She had been at the Ministry working late but a janitor heard the commotion and took her to St. Mongo’s just in time. Despite the newsworthiness of the case, there haven’t been any leads. The janitor hadn’t seen anything and Tabitha had blacked out because of the pain and couldn’t remember anything about her attacked. Tabitha is a well liked person by her co-workers and friends and has been married for twenty years with two children at Hogwarts. Nothing about her is particularly remarkable. 

“Well there's been another attack,” Robards says, passing out the case file for the three of them. “Eustace Yaxley was attacked yesterday at around midnight when he returned to work because they left their cellphone. He works for the beast division in the department of magical creatures.” 

Harry begins looking over the case file, thinking about what he can remember from Tabitha’s case. It's obvious that there are a lot of similarities in the attack. Both victims had been torn apart as though cut with knives. Eustace’s wounds seem to be even more severe than Tabitha’s. Neither had any magical signatures or hexes on them so whoever attacked them didn’t use magic. In both cases, they were attacked in or around their office, at times when there was almost no one around. 

When it comes to who the victims are, the similarities end. From what Harry gets from quickly scanning Yaxley’s file he’s twenty-eight years old, from a pureblood family but he wasn’t involved in the war. He seems to be mostly well liked, he only joined that department a year ago. He got engaged last year to Cecelia Smith who works in a potion shop on Diagon Alley. 

“How is Yaxley?” Greystone asks looking up from the file. 

Robards scowls. “Dr. Dumont informed me know that he just woke up but his injuries were extensive, he’s not leaving St. Mungo's for a long time.” 

“Do we have any witnesses?” Harry asks grimacing when he sees the list of injuries written out by one of the nurses at St. Mungos. 

“Unfortunately no, Yaxley’s fiancee Cecelia called the Auror department after he had been gone for about an hour. Auror Donaldson found him and brought him to St. Mongo's he’d already been attacked by then,” Robards explains. “Greystone and Eichelberg I want you to go to St. Mungo's and take Yaxley and his fiance's statement. Statements of his parents and siblings too. Potter go down to the beast division and interview his co-workers. Let's check back in at the end of the day.” 

Harry sighs he knows he’s going to be working through lunch. Greystone duplicates the file as well as getting them a copy of Tabitha’s to use as a reference. It seems clear based on the unusual nature of the injuries and location that they must be related. They’ll have to see who the two of them knew in common. 

He heads to level four and then to the best division. Harry walks towards Yaxley’s subdepartment, the pest advisory board. It’s a quiet department and they all turn to look at him as he walks through the doors. 

“Auror Potter what can I help you with?” a nervous man with big glasses asks. 

“I’m here to talk to you about the attack on Eustace Yaxley,” Harry says. 

“Of course, of course, we can talk in my office,” the man says leading him to the only private office in the subdepartment. “I'm Jonas O’Connor head of the pest advisory board.” 

They shake hands as Harry settles into the chair across from him. He can tell that his presence is making O’Connor nervous, it happens to most people when confronted with an Auror in the middle of an active investigation. Only a rookie would automatically assume that means something, that this man is involved. 

“I’m going to ask you and everyone in your department a few basic questions, nothing too invasive. We just want to get an idea of who Yaxley is as a person,” Harry explains as Mr. O’Connor nods along. “Would you say Yaxley was well liked?” 

“Oh yes, I would say he was well liked. He got along very well with everyone. He’s a good worker, very dependable. We were all very excited for his and Cecelia’s wedding, they are a wonderful couple,” O'Connor says. “We were all shocked when we heard he’d been attacked.” 

O’Connor’s assessment of Yaxley is glowing, not different from what his file says. Harry flips through the file scanning it. “And before this, he worked in the disposal of dangerous creatures. Do you know why he left?” 

“He and Cecelia are looking to settle down and start a family soon after the wedding. Working for the disposal of dangerous creatures is well… dangerous. I think Cecelia wanted him to work somewhere safer,” O’Connor explains. Harry was hoping the reason for leaving would be a little more dramatic and give him some sort of lead. 

“Did you know if O’Connor had anyone he is especially close to within the department or anyone he doesn’t like?” Harry questions.

O’Connor shrugs his shoulders in response. “Honestly I don’t know what to say. I know he’s close with Evangeline, they were in the same years at Hogwarts. As far as people he doesn't like, I can’t think of any. I doubt Eustace would say anything unless they broke a rule.” 

“Would you say Eustace has a strong scene of what’s right and what’s wrong?” Harry questions. 

“Definitely,” O’Connor replies immediately before lowing his voice down to a whisper. “I heard he testified against his own brother, and put him in Azkaban.” 

Harry looks back through Eustace’s file. His oldest brother Kendon Yaxley was a death eater and is currently still serving a ten year sentence in Azkaban for his crimes. Harry might be wrong but he believes Kendon is on the list of people getting an early release. It could be related but it definitely could be unrelated. He can't see a clear reason that someone would attack Eustace for his brother getting out of prison. Minister Marcle hadn’t even announced her plan yet when he was attacked. 

“Thank you Mr. O’Connor for all your help. Do you think I could use your office for a bit I would prefer to use the interviews in private,” Harry asks. 

“Of course Mr. Potter!” O’Connor agrees at once. 

Harry asks for him to send in Evangeline next. Harry makes his way through the interviews slow but steadily. The truth is none of them are very helpful, not because the people he talks to aren't thorough and cooperating. The truth is there is nothing especially remarkable about Yaxley. He’s well liked by all of his co-workers, and they have nothing bad to say about him. He also asks everyone about Tabitha but no one has anything interesting to say about her either. 

After he finishes with them he moves on to the division of dangerous creatures. Not everyone is in the office when he arrives but he interviews everyone who is there. No one has anything interesting to say there either. They were sad to see him go but not particularly surprised. It was clear that he didn’t enjoy the fieldwork. 

When Harry heads back to the Auror department he feels modernity defeated. He has no clear leads, despite a bunch of bland and repetitive interviews. He can only hope that Greystone and Eichelberg were able to collect something helpful otherwise this is absolutely hopeless. They’ll be at the same place they were at the beginning of the day. 

Greystone and Eichelberg are at their desks when Harry gets upstairs. They don’t look particularly thrilled. “Did you guys get anything good?” 

Greystone grimaces at his words. “We should probably go check in with Robards.” 

They head to Robards office, knocking on his door before walking in. Based on Greystone’s expression he doubts they are going to have anything exciting to say. He can only guess that Robards is going to be thoroughly disappointed by what they have to say to him. 

“Take a seat please,” Robards says. There are only two chairs to Greystone and Eichelburg sit while Harry stands awkwardly behind them. “What do you have for me?” 

Greystone and Eichelburg look at him so he takes the lead. “Nothing of consequence. Yaxley was well liked, and I see no clear link to Tabitha. The most interesting information was O’Connor mentioned that he’s a rule follower. Maybe he knew someone was up to something suspicious, and they were worried he'd report them so they attacked him.” 

Harry knows it’s a stretch and it offers some explanation for how Tabitha is connected. Robards seem equally unimpressed. “It’s not a bad idea but until we have a clear lead in that direction it’s not much to go on. Greystone and Eichelburg what did you get?” 

Rebecca looks stunned so Greystone takes the lead. “Like with Tabitha, Yaxley doesn't remember who attacked him. He doesn’t even remember going back to work, so I think it might have to do with trauma instead of a memory charm or potion making him forget. Dr. Dumont is taking a blood sample to look at potion residue. We talked with his parents and fiancee Cecilia but other than giving us a timeline of the day they didn’t give us much.” 

“What about Kendon, his brother?” Harry asks wondering if anything about him was mentioned. 

“His parents were clearly in a state of shock to learn he’s going to be released. We've made an appointment to talk with his three other siblings tomorrow,” Greystone explains. 

“Keep following up with the family, that's the best lead we have so far,” Robards suggests. “We don’t know for sure that Yaxley was attacked by the same person as Tabitha. It could just be a copycat who read about it in the Daily Prophet.” 

“We’ll let you know what happens in the interview with his siblings tomorrow,” Greystone says before they all say goodbye to Robards. Rebecca practically runs out of the room, clearly scared of being around Robards. 

“Should I come with you to the interview tomorrow?” Harry asks as they move back to their desks. 

Greystone shrugs. “If you want to. I’m not sure if they’re going to give us anything helpful.” 

They’ve all seem to have decided that this case isn’t going anywhere at the moment. It’s always hard to work on a case that has so few leads. Nothing about the attack on Yaxley has made it into the papers yet though he guesses that will change tomorrow. The only good thing about having the case in the newspapers is people can write in any information that might have. Sometimes a good tip is just what they need to solve a case. 

Harry settles back at his desk. Ron is still there furiously going through paperwork. Recently Ron has been working a lot with the new trainees, taking on more of a role of a teacher. He seems to really like it, except for grading all their work. Harry hasn’t asked yet but he does wonder if one day Ron would like to work with the trainee’s full time. 

“That letter came for you ages ago,” Ron says not even looking up from his paperwork. Harry grabs the piece of paper and begins reading. It’s the reply from Draco after he let him know about Lucius getting out of Azkaban. 

_ Harry,  _

_ Mother just came over and let me know, she only found out this morning. Fathers going to have his ability to travel limited and with his wand monitored. I can’t tell how mother is feeling about it. We’ll talk more tonight.  _

_ Love  _

_ Draco  _

Immediately Harry notices that Draco didn’t mention anything about how he’s feeling about the situation. They actually don’t talk about Lucius that much, it's still a tricky conversation with so much history there. Harry always thought they would have a year before they had to start thinking about Lucius getting out of Azkaban. 

“Is Draco throwing a fit?” Ron questions with a grimace. Ron thinks that Draco is the biggest drama queen ever like he isn’t just as dramatic most of the time. 

“I’m not sure, I guess I’ll find out when I go home,” Harry replies. He could send letters back and forth with Draco, or he could go home and find out how Draco’s feeling. It’s not like writing really works with Draco anyways, as soon as he gets annoyed he’ll just stop replying. 

“Better get home then,” Ron says not looking the least bit sympathetic. 

Harry’s definitely not excited for the conversation he and Draco are going to have to have later about Lucius. “Are you and Hermione still coming over for dinner tomorrow?” 

“Yep, Hermione might be a little late though she’s slammed with work,” Ron explains. It seems like Hermione is always slammed with work these days. Ron was telling Harry just the other day that Hermione sometimes spends all night at the office. He knows she loves her work, but ever since she started working for the Minister her hours have been insane. 

“Well, I’ll see you, tomorrow mate, I think Draco has something special planned for dinner,” Harry says, giving Ron a quick pat on the back before packing up his stuff and heading for the elevator. He floo’s out of the Ministry from the first floor and straight to Grimmauld Place. 

Draco, Teddy, and Jamie are all in the living room. Jamie seems to be stacking an impressively tall stack of blocks, with some assistance from Draco. Teddy is coloring in one of his coloring books, using the new set of colored pencils that Harry got for him. He decided that Teddy had progressed past just needing to use crayons. 

“Daddy!” Teddy says excitedly while Jamie lets out a muddled. “Dada!” 

Harry ruffles Teddy’s hair and gives Jamie a kiss on the forehead. It's not unusual when they come home for everyone to be gathered in the living room. Over the past year, they renovated the backyard so during the summer months Draco, Teddy, and Jamie would usually be gathered in the backyard. Teddy loves riding his starter broom with Jamie tottling behind him. Unfortunately, now it’s fall and a little too cold to be outside at this time of day. 

“Did you have a good day at school?” Harry asks Teddy admiring his drawing. 

Teddy launches into a long story about him, Victoire, and another girl Nessy. It involves Nessy nearly setting the school on fire while Teddy and Victoire watching in delight. Kids at their age are prone to bouts of untamed magic, he’s seen Teddy do some on occasion. In a few years, they should have more control over it. 

“Your lucky someone didn’t get hurt,” Draco comments, giving Teddy a stern look as he listens in on the story. Harry’s sure he already heard it earlier from Teddy and unfortunately probably from Mrs. Bui. 

“Papa everything was fine! Nessy didn’t do anything bad!” Teddy whines out, coming out to defend his new friend. 

“No she didn’t, but when you realized what had happened you should have gotten a teacher,” Draco tells him. 

Teddy sighs clearly not impressed by Draco’s scolding. Harry has realized that Teddy might be a bit of a trouble maker, he can only guess what kind of shenanigans he will get up to in Hogwarts. If he’s anything like Harry and like Remus, he’ll be driving McGonagall up the wall. 

“And what about you two?” Harry says, turning away from Teddy, who's now back to coloring, and to Jamie and Draco. 

Jamie babbles back at Harry. He’s good at saying yes and no, Dada and Papa and something close to Teddy’s name. Other than that Jamie hasn’t fully grasped language yet. If he’s anything like Teddy was, Jamie will wake up one day talking in full sentences. 

“Mother came over this morning. Then while Jamie was taking his nap I worked on that new muscle relaxant for St. Mungo’s. After picking up Teddy we went to the park for a bit with Fleur and the kids,” Draco says. Harry wants to ask about what he and his mother talked about, he knows it was about Lucius. He knows better than to bring it up around Teddy, that’s not a conversation he is ready to have yet. 

“How are Dominique and Victoire,” Harry asks. Dominique is only a few months older than Jamie and then get along well enough. 

“Dominique is at the screaming stage,” Draco responds with a grimace. Dominique had the whole talking thing down very early on and now it seems to have moved onto screaming. He wouldn’t be surprised if Dominique is much more talkative than Victoire, who is on the shy and quiet side. 

Harry laughs at Draco’s expression. “Sounds fun.” 

Draco gives him a side-eyed glare. “Next time you can go to the park and I’ll solve some cases or whatever you Auror‘s do.” 

“Whatever we do,” Harry rolls his eyes because Draco definitely knows what Harry does at work, he probably knows more than he would like to most of the time. “Is dinner almost ready?” 

“The lasagna should be done in a few minutes. Do you want to make the salad?” Draco asks as Jamie topples over his block tower babbling excitedly. “Kreacher decided he didn’t want to make dinner tonight.” 

Usually, Kreacher cooks for them but once and a while he disappears up to his room in the attic for a few days at a time. Harry’s not sure what Kreacher does up in his room, it's Kreacher’s private space so Harry never goes into it. He’ll appear in a few days, complaining away like he hadn’t just disappeared for several days. Kreacher used to do that a lot more often before Draco moved in. 

“I’m going to go get changed,” Harry says heading upstairs. In his bedroom, he strips out of his heavy Auror cloths. He jumps into the shower, washing quickly. He always finds it funny to look at his few products, shampoo, conditioner, and soup beside Draco’s plethora of soaps and potions. 

He steps out of the shower quickly toweling off before putting on a soft t-shirt and joggers. Harry heads downstairs following the smell of food. Downstairs he finds Draco trying to wrestle a wiggling Jamie into his booster seat. 

“Give him here,” Harry says scoping Jamie out of Draco’s arms. Being switched over from one patient to another seems to shock him enough that he stops wiggling and Harry’s able to shove in legs into the holes of the high chair. 

Draco’s attempting to cut the lasagna making a bit of a mess as Teddy watches on with laser focus. Harry goes to the fridge and gets out the lettuce, some onions, and cherry tomatoes. He begins chopping up the lettuce quickly before adding the red onions and cherry tomatoes. If Harry had more time he’d probably make his own vinaigrette for the salad but instead, he settles for a premade one. Teddy comes up and snatches a cherry tomato popping it into his mouth. 

“Do you want some milk?” Harry asks Teddy as Draco begins to portion out the food. 

“Can I have orange juice please!” Teddy begs. He’s been obsessed with orange juice lately, he wants to have it with every meal. Harry guesses there could be worse drinks, he never lets Teddy have soda but he doesn’t think juice is strictly healthy either. 

“Alright,” Harry relents pouring him a small cup of orange juice. “Use both hands to carry it to the table.” 

Teddy does but also runs which basically defeats the purpose of using both hands. Draco carries their food to the table while Harry gets them both water before thinking better of it and also pours a glass of red wine for Draco and himself. Draco accepts the glass of wine happily. 

They chat easily during dinner, as both Teddy and Jamie get their face covered with tomato sauce. Harry desperately wants to talk about Lucius but he knows better than to bring anything in front of Teddy who is bound to ask questions. Right now Teddy sees Draco and Narcissa as just his father and grandmother. One day he’ll learn more about them, he’ll be taught about the war. They’ll have to have a conversation about the war, but not yet. 

After dinner, Harry gives Jamie a quick bath before taking him to bed. Jamie just started sleeping in his own room a few months ago, after having slept in Harry and Draco’s room before that. Draco was especially reluctant to move Jamie to his own room, worried that something would happen in the middle of the night. Harry’s not sure if it’s fear from what happened with Lestrange or Draco’s overprotective nature. Jamie’s almost big enough to start crawling out of his crib, it feels like just days ago when they were bringing him home from St. Mungo's. 

Downstairs Draco and Teddy are cuddled on the couch watching a movie. Teddy already looks half asleep as the Lion King plays in front of him. Draco looks equally tired, his eyes keep fluttering closed. Harry lounges on the couch beside him, looking through the sports section of the Daily Prophet. 

By the time the movie ends, it’s way past Teddy’s bedtime. He somehow still convinces Harry to read him two bedtime stories. It’s not really that hard to convince him, one of Harry’s favorite things is reading to Teddy. He’s excited for when Teddy will be able to read to himself. He thinks he’s going to be like Draco who can easily devour a book in a single day. 

Draco is in bed reading when he gets there. It’s the new Janelle Le Fron novel, it's this month's book for the bookclub Draco’s in. The book club seems to read a new romance novel every month, though Draco insists it’s not a book club just for romance novels. Pansy’s in charge, so he’s not surprised that the romance novels tend to be almost pornographic in content. 

“Good chapter?” Harry teases looking at Draco’s pink flushed face. He always gets that way when he reads sex scenes, as though he and Harry haven’t done far dirtier things. 

“Shut up Potter,” Draco hisses, burrowing deeper into bed. 

Harry crawls into bed beside him, inelegantly tucking himself underneath the covers. Draco wiggles around to make enough room for Harry in bed but doesn’t look up from his book. Harry doesn't want to have to force Draco to talk about Lucius but he doesn’t really see any other option. 

“So we need to talk about your father getting released from Azkaban,” Harry says probably not with enough finesse as he should. 

“Do we? I really feel like we don’t,” Draco replies very actively not looking up from his book. 

Harry sighs and gently wrestles the book out of Draco’s hand, making sure to save his spot, before setting it down on the nightstand. Draco looks defeated as he sighs heavily. This is not going to be an easy conversation. 

“What did your mother say about it?” Harry asks. It’s a safer realm to ask how Draco’s mother is feeling because it means Draco doesn't have to deal with how he’s feeling about the entire situation. 

“She’s happy, I mean father hasn’t been doing well in Azkaban. She wasn’t sure how damaged he would be if he had to be there a whole nother year,” Draco says. “At the same time, I think she liked having a life separate from father.” 

Its always been clear to Harry that Narcissa spent a lot of time following Lucius. It was clear he was the head of the family and bad at it. He pushes them to join Voldemort, both the first and second time. Narcissa was his reluctant follower until he was sent to prison and she finally got to be the head of the family. 

“Things don’t have to change just because your father’s back,” Harry says. He says it about Narcissa but he also means it about Draco. 

Draco lets out a half-laugh. “I wish that was true. Mother’s always been weak when it comes to father. I doubt any of that has changed. The first time he went to Azkaban, when he came back it was like time had been frozen and we just restarted where he had left off.” 

“So much has changed this time,” Harry points out. Draco is so different than he was at the end of the war. He had different beliefs and he’s so much happier than he was back then. He has a different life with Harry, Teddy, and Jamie. He’s a father now and a partner. 

“That’s true,” Draco agrees. “I thought I had more time before I had to deal with all of this. I was supposed to have another year.” 

Harry reaches forward and takes Draco’s hand in his. “What are you going to do? Do you want to talk to him?” 

“I know mother wants me to,” Draco says with a heavy sigh. “I just don’t know if I’m ready for that. I don’t know if I have the right words to say to him yet.” 

“Well, it's up to you. I’ll support you no matter what,” Harry promises. 

Draco leans forward then pressing his face into Harry’s neck and leans against him. Harry wraps his arms around him so that they are pressed close together. “I love you, Harry.” 

Harry presses a quick kiss to Draco’s temple mumbling into him. “I love you too sweetheart. Everything is going to be fine, we'll figure it out together.” 

“I sure hope so,” Draco says cuddling even closer. 

***

Kat’s Kakes is a small cake shop just off of Diagon Alley. Harry’s never been in here before, he knows this is where Hermione and Ron's wedding cake came from. Now they are here to look at wedding cakes for their own wedding. Luna and Ginny are with them, they're not engaged but they seem excited to eat some cake. 

Teddy and Jamie are spending the morning with Mrs. Weasley whose excited to spend some time with her two grandsons. She’s thrilled to see the Weasley family continuing to grow. She’s been pushing Hermione and Ron to have kids, she insists that two years of marriage definitely means it’s time to start having kids. Ron and Hermione don’t seem to sure about that. 

Kat comes out of the back delivering three thick pieces of cake setting them on the table. “I have red-velvet cake with a buttercream fostering, a carrot cake with a yogurt frosting, and a dark chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.” 

“Thank you, Kat,” Draco says giving her a warm smile. 

Kat adores Draco after he helped, or basically picked out, Hermione and Ron’s cake. She’s delighted to be able to help Draco with his own wedding, even more so because he’s getting married to Harry. “Of course dears, let me know when you are ready to try some more favors.” 

They all grab their forks and begin digging in. They've all had the carrot cake before at Ron and Hermione's wedding. Harry goes for the red velvet cake. He likes it but the frosting is a little too sweet, meaning Draco will probably like it. Ginny, Draco, and Luna all go for the double chocolate cake. 

“What do you think?” Harry asks after he has his own forkful of the chocolate cake. It’s a little much but also delicious at the same time. 

“It's very good,” Draco garbles out covering his mouth so they can’t see him chewing. 

“A bit dense isn’t it,” Ginny says as she reaches over to get some of the carrot cake. 

Draco nods in agreement. “Maybe with vanilla buttercream frosting?” 

“And strawberries!” Luna suggests. Harry’s surprised that she doesn't have some of her own homemade jam in her purse. 

Draco motions for Kat to come over. “Can we get some chocolate cake maybe with vanilla frosting and strawberries?” 

“I have just the thing,” Kat says excitedly, taking the already half eaten slices and going to the back to get them new slices. She comes out with three new slices of cake to try. Harry’s not sure how many different types of cake Kat’s Kakes has but it seems like a lot. 

“Charlie fire-called me this morning. Apparently, he’s thinking about moving back to England,” Ginny says. Charlie has been living in Romania for years now, Harry never really thought he would move back to England. He always thought that Charlie would find someone in Romania and get married, but that hasn’t happened yet. 

“When is he thinking of moving back?” Harry asks. 

“His funding from the department of magical creatures just came through to open his new sanctuary for dragons. He also wants to work on his book and he doesn't have enough time while working at the sanctuary,” Ginny explains. 

Charlie has been trying to write a book about dragons forever. There hasn’t been a new book on dragon studies in ages which only puts more pressure on Charlie to get everything right. He’s been trying to collaborate with others but it’s not easy to do while stuck in Romania. It should be easier to consult with other writers once he’s back in England. 

“Is Molly excited?” Draco asks taking a forkful of one of the cakes. 

“Charlie hasn’t told her anything. I think he wants to make it a surprise for mum. He’s been asking me to look at an apartment for him,” Ginny says with a grin. 

Draco looks absolutely delighted. “I love apartment shopping! You’ll have to tell me next time you’re going.” 

“You and Luna can go for all I care. I have no interest in looking at apartments. I don’t know why Charlie asked me anyways he thinks my style is boring,” Ginny complains. 

Ginny is more about utility than style. She and Luna haven’t moved in together yet and Harry thinks part of the reason is that Ginny thinks Luna is a hoarder. Despite the fact that they’ve been dating for two years Harry doesn’t even think they’ve talked about moving in together. In a lot of ways, they’ve been taking it slow, especially compared to Draco and Harry. 

“I’m sure we could find something Charlie would like,” Luna says as she and Draco share a conspiratorial grin. Out of anyone, Charlie might be the only person who would appreciate Luna’s whimsy in a house. 

“Something near Grimmauld Place would be nice, Charlie has always liked London,” Harry suggests. He definitely can’t see Charlie wanting to live anywhere near his parents. He’s the least receptive to Molly’s overprotective nature. 

“Oh, so you want to have an opinion on what apartment Charlie should get but not on our wedding?” Draco teases raising a single eyebrow. 

Harry can’t help but cringe. It was one of those times when as soon as he said the words he wishes he could take them back. It had been when they had gone to look at flower arrangements for the wedding and Harry had asked why Draco couldn’t just plan the wedding. Draco had immediately gotten furious, asking why they were even getting married if Harry didn’t want to have any opinion on the wedding. Harry had apologized the next day with a selection of fancy chocolates. 

“Ohhh! Am I sensing some wedding drama!” Ginny asks with a grin. 

“Some people seem content being engaged from another two years,” Draco replies turning to look at Harry out of the corner of his eyes. 

Harry first proposed to Draco two years ago, right after Fleur and Bill’s wedding. Neither of them were interested in a long engagement, they already lived together after all. Jamie had thrown a bit of a wrench in those plans. Having a wedding with a newborn was not something they were interested in doing. Now that Jamie’s older, wedding planning is back on. 

“I don’t see why anyone has a big wedding. Hermione and Ron were so stressed out while planning theirs,” Ginny says with a sigh. Harry doesn’t think Ginny or Luna are the marrying type, even if they spend the rest of their lives together. 

“We could hire a wedding planner,” Harry suggests. It’s a suggestion he’s made before with absolutely no interest shown from Draco’s end. 

Draco viciously stabs his fork into a piece of cake. “I don’t need someone to help me to plan the wedding. I know what I like - I know what we like. Pansy is going to help me anyway.” 

Draco’s been promising that Pansy is going to help him from the beginning, though Harry’s seen no evidence that’s true. He knows Draco’s particular, and he can’t blame him for that. Hiring a wedding planner would probably drive him up a wall. Having two young children and both having jobs doesn’t leave a lot of time for wedding planning. 

“Well tell Pansy she better start helping soon,” Harry grumbles. 

“She’s just been busy since she got promoted,” Draco replies, Pansy is now head of her own weekly editorial for Witch Weekly as well as being the main contributor to the fashion section. “She still wants to come by and do that shoot for the renovations on Grimmauld Place.” 

Harry’s been reluctant to have Pansy come to the photoshoot at Grimmauld Place. He knows Draco is excited to show off all the work he’s done in the house but Harry doesn’t like the idea of his house being in the paper. People already know way more about his personal life than he would like. Pansy’s been pushing the issue more and more recently, wanting to get the shoot done before winter really sets in. 

“We can talk about it more at home,” Harry says because this isn’t a conversation he wants to have in front of Ginny and Luna. “We can figure out the logistics more.” 

“Pansy's getting antsy. If we don’t make decisions soon I’m going to have Pansy arrange everything with you,” Draco threatens. Harry grimaces at Draco’s words, Harry definitely does not want to deal with Pansy. 

Kat comes over then interrupting the conversation. “What do you think of the cakes, everyone?” 

Draco and Harry share an unsure look. The three cakes that Kat brought him were all very similar, almost too similar. Harry doesn't have much of a preference, mostly because he usually doesn't have a lot of opinions on sweets. 

“I liked the one with chopped strawberries in between the two layers,” Ginny throws out there. 

“It tasted fresher,” Draco fills in as Harry reaches across Draco to have another bite of the cake. It is really good, but all the cakes are really good. Kat truly is a master baker, he wonders if she uses magic to bake or does everything the muggle way. 

“You could use strawberries from my garden,” Luna suggests. Luna’s garden is a thing of pure magic, built behind the back of the Lovegood house in a half-falling down greenhouse. She uses magic, earth magic which makes the fruits and vegetables grow round and ripe. The strawberries are always wonderfully juice and sugar sweet. 

Kat doesn't look as pleased with the suggestion. She’s probably used to having customers push into areas where they should really have no say. She puts on the kind of smile one puts on when they’re dealing with customers. 

Harry gives her a timid smile. “We can talk about it another time Luna. The wedding isn’t for another few months anyways.” 

They’ve planned the wedding for early spring, it will be held in their villa in the south of France. It’s where Harry asked Draco to marry him, after presenting the house as a gift to Draco. They've gone there several times since then, the villa is settled between two vineyards meaning it’s the perfect place to host parties. They held a small intimate party for Teddy’s fifth birthday there, and a much larger party to celebrate Hermione and Ron’s one-year anniversary. 

“How about you both take a few more days to decide, a wedding cake is not a decision to rush,” Kat says taking the now empty plates. 

“Thank you, Kat. We’ll get back to you soon about the cake,” Draco replies as they begin to pick up their things. It’s cold outside so they put on their heavy overcoats before going outside. Draco turns to Luna and Ginny. “What do you two have planned for the rest of the day?” 

“I have to meet with my agent about promotional work for the season,” Ginny explains. She’s become a worldwide quidditch sensation in the last few years. That means every business wants her face promoting their products. Ginny seemed a bit overwhelmed at first but she’s grown into her fame well, definitely better than Harry ever has. 

Just by being Ginny’s girlfriend Luna has gained some fame of her own, but she doesn’t seem very concerned by it. Luna’s been working on drawings for Neville's new herbology book, she has more free time now that she’s graduated from school. Harry guesses that her book might lead to her own form of fame, not as intense as Ginny’s. 

“I’m having tea with father if you want to join,” Luna offers sweetly. 

Draco and Harry share a look before Draco says. “We need to go pick up Teddy and Jamie from the Burrow. Molly’s already been nice enough to watch them most of the morning.” 

It's not that they don’t like Luna’s father, it’s just that they find him very strange and not in the good sort of way which they find Luna strange. Draco seems particularly disturbed by Mr. Lovegood’s frantic energy and prefers to keep his distance. Luna does not seem to have noticed their issues with her father. 

“See you tomorrow for brunch right?” Ginny says as they begin to part ways. 

“Of course, wouldn’t miss Sunday brunch for anything,” Harry replies with a smile. The only times he’s ever missed Sunday brunch is because of work or when Teddy got the flu and none of them had been in any condition to leave the house. 

Harry slips his hand through Draco’s as they head down Diagon Alley. They don’t have to head back to the Burrow right away so they decide to go on a leisurely stroll down Diagon. Holiday decorations are beginning to be put up, and all of Daigon smells of pumpkin and spice. Christmas is still a little less than two months away but already people are beginning to get in the holiday spirit. 

“Your not actually mad at me about the wedding stuff are you?” Harry questions. “It’s not like I don’t want to be part of the wedding planning it’s just that you will do a much better job than I ever could. You know what I like anyways.” 

Draco sighs. “No, don’t worry I’m not cross with you anymore. It’s just… you’re excited about the wedding aren’t you?” 

“Of course!” Harry says squeezing Draco’s hand tightly in his, “I’ve been looking forward to getting married since the second we got engaged. I promise nothing is going to stop us from getting married this spring.” 

Draco’s face grows faintly pink as Harry’s declaration, and he leans over pressing a quick kiss to Harry’s cheek. “I can’t wait to be your husband.” 

Harry shares the sentiment. It feels like part of him has always been waiting to be with Draco. A deep part of him that knew even when they first met, and couldn’t stand each other, that there was something drawing them together. Harry can’t wait to keep having that feeling for the rest of his life. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! comments and kudos are always appreciated!!


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